AN AIMSIR
Bhí sé grianmhar agus te go leor.
DAOINE
The Foireann (team) was Bróna, Orla, Steve and Diarmuid (back from his travels).
It was very, very busy with conversations and people signing the petition and more badges were sold; we also collected some donations at the table including a sizeable one from Mary, from a walking history tour she had recently conducted.
Patrick and Elena Farrell from Houston, Texas, holidaying in Ireland, got in touch to find out what time we’d be there and dropped by to see us, sign the petition, buy badges and chat. They had their solidarity portrait photos taken too.
Also visiting from the USA but from Maine (over 3,000 kilometres from Houston), Marty and Heather Mullen also dropped by, also posing for a solidarity photo. Marty at least has been here before, on a group visit organised by Larry Kirwan of the Black ‘47 rock band, when Diarmuid had been booked to lead a history tour for them.
Both groups wished us well and follow us on social media; other people made a point of wishing the campaign well also. At times we were too busy to even take photographs.
One of Daniel’s brothers David dropped by too and also had his solidarity photo taken (Daniel himself was absent attending a family event).
STORIES
Billy Lindsay, a friend of Bart’s family stopped by and told us his grandmother, Annie O’Neill/ McCabe was born in Moore Lane around 1916 (we do know of a pregnant woman who had to get through British soldier lines to arrive at the very nearby Rotunda Hospital during the Rising).
Our Steve had a story for us too, which he got from a taxi driver dropping him down to Moore Street. His taxi-driver’s name was Lynch and his grandmother had a stall on Moore Street where as a boy he had earned money helping. Checking with a current stall-holder, we found her vegetable stall had been up near where the butcher Buckley FX’s is now. When she retired, none wanted to take over her licence and so it lapsed. Her grandson cleaned windows there for years.
This has been a common ending to stalls due to years of hard work, exposure to the elements in all weathers with minimum shelter, no heating, poor lighting and no toilets.
UASDÁTÚ (repeated from previous week)
Destructive Metro Station Application
Campaigners have known for years of the plan to include a Metro station entrance/ exit in Moore Lane (the main entrance in O’Connell Street), part of the grand Hammerson plan (though they don’t run the Metro work). Along with the Hammerson application to demolish and build there, the combined impact will be to create a narrow canyon of Moore Lane impeding the proper visibility of and respect for the O’Rahilly monument there – which both Dublin City Council and the Office of Public Works have neglected to signpost for years. That application, if granted, would also help Hammerson to get their application to build on the site extended to 15, which their original application insisted was necessary but which was reduced to seven by DCC’s Planning Department.
Government, Council managers and big business certainly know how to work together!
And if we fail to stop it, will the State be paying Hammerson rent for using the site for the Metro exit?
Mar is gnáthach, you can help spread the word by the occasional sharing of our posts and ask your contacts to do the same
